Nick Fancher's Studio Anywhere

When I first met Nick Fancher, he was working at JackThreads doing almost all of their photography. I was brought in to do some small video projects, so our work overlapped here and there. JackThreads as a company and Nick personally gave me my first shot at doing real independent and creative projects back in 2011 - it was equal parts good luck, hard work, and the right timing.

Towards the end of the year, Nick asked if I would shoot a little behind the scenes video of his photo work. I said yes, of course, but had no idea what it would lead to.

Photo credit: Nick Fancher

I filmed Nick for about six hours, and spent a few solid days editing a short behind the scenes documentary that became Street Fashion Photography. He entered it into FStoppers' Behind the Scenes contest and we made it to the final 11. Although we didn't win, the video was featured all over popular photography blogs, and today sits at nearly 130,000 views. I still get comments from people telling me how much they like that video almost four years later.

Long before I met him, but especially in the four years since, Nick has been working hard to perfect his craft. Earlier this year he released a book based on his approach, methods, and philosophy called Studio Anywhere: A Photographer's Guide to Shooting in Unconventional Locations.

Here's a brief description of the book from Peachpit's website:

Studio Anywhere is a resource for photographers to learn through behind-the-scenes photos and lighting diagrams from a range of photo shoots–but it doesn’t stop there. Because directing a photo shoot involves more than simply knowing how to wield a camera or process a raw file, Nick also lets you in on the aesthetic decisions he makes in his signature photos, inspiring you to develop your own vision. And, finally, he describes his Lightroom and Photoshop workflow so you can learn how to deftly navigate post-processing.

Nick included a shot from our behind the scenes video in his book, which is so rad! A still of my video work in a book!

Photo credit: Nick Fancher

A little over a year ago, I caught up with Nick again for my short documentary series Why We Create. He talks more about his process and what drives him to do his best work. Watch it and then go buy his book.